Attorneys general call on top U.S. retailers to drop tobacco products

(Reuters) - A group of 28 U.S. attorneys general is urging
chief executive officers of five major retailers, including
Walmart, to stop selling tobacco products, saying it is
contradictory to carry such items in stores that also provide
health care services.

The companies receiving a letter on Sunday from the group
were Wal-Mart Stores Inc, supermarket operators Kroger Co and
Safeway Inc, which operate pharmacies, and drugstore chains
Walgreen Co and Rite Aid Corp.

"Pharmacies and drug stores, which increasingly market
themselves as a source for community health care, send a mixed
message by continuing to sell deadly tobacco products," New York
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement on
Monday.

None of the retailers immediately responded to a request for
comment.

Schneiderman and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine led a
group of 28 states and territories, including Arizona,
Connecticut, Illinois, Puerto Rico and Guam calling for the
change.

Last month, CVS Caremark Corp, which runs the No. 2 U.S.
drugstore chain after Walgreen, said it would stop selling
tobacco products at its 7,600 stores by October 1, making it the
first national drugstore chain in the United States to take
cigarettes off the shelves.